QUEENSLAND WHARFMEN

Greymouth Evening Star, 1 October 1928, Page 7

QUEENSLAND WHARFMEN

A REMARKABLE REPORT

SYDNEY, September 17

The chairman of directors of the Adelaide Steamship Co., Ltd. (Mr. M. G. Anderson), at the company’s annual meeting in Adelaide last week, made brief reference to some recent .happenings in North Queensland which •had seriously delayed the company’s vessels, and hampered the transport of raw sugar. At. one port, because an unreasonable, demand was not. conceded, the watersiders had deliberately adopted a “go slow” policy, reducing

[ the'rate of loading sugar to 15 tons per gang per hour, which is quite 50 per cent, below a, fair average rate for i one-hour’s work. At another port. it. had become usual for work Io be held : up owing Io disputes between warring factions of the union. Al. still another sugar loading port the company and its steamers were, declared “black” for no other reason than the paltry one that its agents there happened also to act as agents for an oversea steamer respecting which a \dispute had arisen. The new motor vessel Katoora was declared “black” bn account of the company’s refusal to put three additional men on her, for -whom there ■would have been no work ft’o attend to on board, ami the company had to take her out of the .Queensland trade. “The men concerned in these iri'ita’tion strikes all work under awards giving extremely liberal rates of pay and conditions,” said Mr. Anderson. “The awards provide that there shall be no stoppage of work when disputes arise, but that work is to continue pending an inquiry. The men or their leaders ignore this provision in the award, and openly flout the Industrial Arbitration Courts. The State of Queensland has acquired much notoriety on account of these incessant labour- troubles, and it is incomprehensibe why the authorities have not taken drastic steps to put an end to these breaches of the award. The average Australian worker realises that the policy of the country is to maintain a higher standard of living than elsewhere, and that he is getting a fair deal. If left alone and not intiimidated, he would be willing to render ja fair day’s work. The professional 'agitator prevents this, and whilst making demand after demand for increased pay, shorter hours, and better conditions, he simultaneously does all he can to make it impossible for employers even to maintain the present rates and conditions. He advances his own interest and his extreme views by causing misery to thousands of those who pay him to look after their welfare. He does not, however, share in the losses which his orders entail. He is careful to see that these burdens are .shouldered by others. We must all re'cognise that compulsory arbitration in. bur Commonwealth is a lamentable failure. At certain Queensland ports what is known as the gang system of working waterside labour has been forced upon us by the unions, and. with the acquiescence of the State Industrial Tribunal, and the rate of loading per hour is fixed. Under ‘this 'system we must employ more men than we require. As an example of the effect of this system, the following is an extract from a letter just received from one of our inspectors: —

“I have travelled down from Innisfail, the steamer calling at Mourilyan for 270 tons of sugar. The regulation 15 tons an hour was loaded, and I was an interested spectator’ at the operation. Two gangs, of 12

men were employed, but I noticed :hat only six men worked in each gang, taking hour and hour about. The other six either fished, slept, or bathed. I estimated that it took at the outside not 30 minutes to load 15

tons, so that each man averaged about 15 minutes per hour. They worked an hour overtime, or nine hours in all, and the cost for each man, including fares and meals, was £2 18s sd, which works out at the rate of £1 5s 11 5-9ths per hour. Conditions at Lucinda are worse.’ “This is scarcely honest.”